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Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi in New Delhi on Monday. (PTI)
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Guwahati, May 7: Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, who is into his third term, is becoming “more accessible, more informative and more lively” through a web portal of his own. The move is being seen as telling, given the controversies Dispur has courted lately.
To be launched by Gogoi at the Assam secretariat here on Thursday, tarungogoi.in is a “new” public relations exercise initiated by the chief minister’s office to take Gogoi “closer” to the goal of creating a more transparent, efficient and accountable government.
CMO sources denied any link between the launch and the controversies sparked off by reports about a section within the ruling Congress trying to see him as the next Vice-President in August or the intra-party power tussle. But the objective of the website and its timing have, wittingly or unwittingly, conveyed the message that Gogoi is not going anywhere in a hurry and would, henceforth, set speculation on any issue concerning him at rest himself. For now, Gogoi has made public his lack of interest in the post of Vice-President.
The move, sources said, betrays a sense of frustration. “Whether it is law and order, projects getting delayed or stalled or legislators speaking beyond mandate, Gogoi’s third term has been a PR disaster. The desperation was evident from Gogoi’s reaction to the anti-Dispur coverage of the Prime Minister’s visit when he talked about launching a government-controlled TV channel for fair coverage. Now this web portal is being launched for direct interaction with the masses,” a source said.
The website has been developed by a Guwahati-based firm, which is also developing similar portals in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland. It will have features like public grievances and redressal system, CM’s letter to citizens, citizen journalist, CM’s daily events, weekly live web streaming on current topic, mail to CM, newsletter, integration with media and social network like Facebook and Twitter, currently the favourite of many political figures.
“A nodal officer will look after the grievances and their redressal once the portal is launched. We have been working on it for over four months to provide direct access to the chief minister on a day-to-day basis and to provide the public and media houses with authentic information to strengthen our public relations,” a CMO source said.
The website is being tomtomed as more advanced than similar portals of the Gujarat and Kerala chief ministers as its content will be managed by an indigenous software, its newsletter management will be fully automated, it will have live feed and will be connected to more social networks.
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